Articleshttp://en.iwpeace.com/articles
enWhy Is Washington Backing Al-Qaeda and ISIL in Syria And Yemen?http://en.iwpeace.com/articles/38732
<div class="field-image">
<a href="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/field/images/6_63.jpg"><img src="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/styles/480x/public/field/images/6_63.jpg?itok=lWUp_l0k" width="480" height="280" alt="" /></a> </div>
<div class="field-body">
<p><em><strong>Syria’s UN Ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari has once again denounced sanctions imposed on his country by the United States and the European Union, saying the bans are harming the Syrian people.</strong></em></p>
<p>Jaafari told a Security Council session on Monday that foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists and the sanctions imposed by the US and the EU are inflicting suffering on the Syrian people.</p>
<p>On May 28, the EU extended its restrictive measures against the Damascus government until June 1, 2019. The sanctions currently in place against Syria include an oil embargo, restrictions on certain investments and a freeze of the assets of the Syrian central bank held in the EU. The EU bans are also in place on dozens of companies linked to the Syrian government.</p>
<p>Because of the bans, the US and the EU lack moral and ethical standards while dealing with today’s crises, particularly in the universal war against terrorism. But why should the US be willing to embark on such measures that end up in supporting Al-Qaeda and its offshoots like Nusra Front in Syria? It is not as strange as it may seem:</p>
<p>The US-led war on Syria has admittedly required Washington to partner up with “moderate militants” in pursuit of its colonial and aggressive foreign policy goals, including partitioning Syria and protecting Israel. But the war has produced too much evidence to keep the myth of "moderate militants" alive, even for pro-US experts and media. Though completely clear and globally condemned, this de facto alliance with terrorists and extremist groups, even ISIL, is necessary to facilitate the more long-term goals in the Middle East. This includes regime change in Iran.</p>
<p>That explains why the US is turning a blind eye to Al-Qaeda and ISIL and their crimes, and why President Trump says there will be no arms sales ban for Saudi Arabia despite the fact that its rulers were behind the grisly murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.</p>
<p>As for Syria, and more specifically for the Idlib province, it suffices to state that according to President Trump’s Special Envoy to fight ISIL, “Idlib province is the largest Al-Qaeda safe haven since 9/11.”</p>
<p>US officials – including President Trump himself – keep warning the Syrian government not to re-take its own territory from Al-Qaeda control because if Idlib is re-taken by the Syrian army, Wasington or more specifically the Pentagon loses its major foothold in the country, meaning that the American, Saudi and Israeli dream of “regime change” for Syria will be buried altogether and that will be the last and probably most effective ring in the chain of victories of Syria and its allies, Iran and Russia, in burying the US scheme for Syria.</p>
<p>One of the last groups of ISIL fighters in Syria is around the Al-Tanf US military base which has operated illegally in Southeastern Syria - that is assessed as a strategic juncture at Syria's border with Iraq and Jordan - for the past two years. The US has no permission from the Syrian government to be there. Anytime Russia warns the US military in the region that it is about to launch an assault on ISIL fighters around the illegal US base, the US responds by sending in Marines and conducting live-fire exercises as a warning.</p>
<p>The US is occupying the region while it has turned a blind eye to ISIL and Al-Qaeda in the neighborhood as it helps to prolong the bloodshed, justify occupation, and protect Israel. Syria, Russia and Iran have been protesting at the US for allowing ISIL terrorists to operate in the region freely. The US has warned that it has imposed a no fly zone in the region on the pretext of protecting its military, but this has provided the ISIL with free movement without any worries about Syria and Russian air power.</p>
<p>The base that is also used by the US military troops to train Syrian anti-government militants is adjacent to The Rukban refugee camp, which now hosts about 50,000-60,000 people, at Al-Tanf district (Homs province) near the Jordanian border. The US has been hindering the delivery of UN humanitarian assistance to the area, while tens of thousands of refugees are dying of hunger. UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock said on Monday the United Nations is prepared to immediately send a humanitarian convoy to the al-Rukban camp once safe conditions for its passage can be ensured.</p>
<p>"The UN is ready and willing to proceed with the convoy immediately," Lowcock said, just days after a planned aid delivery was delayed due for security reasons. "Please, make the necessary arrangements to ensure the security of the humanitarian personnel and the accompanying convoy so it can proceed without delay".</p>
<p>Lowcock also said reports of insecurity along the planned delivery route had forced the UN and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to postpone plans to deliver the aid on Saturday. Initially, UN, humanitarian workers along with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, had planned to deliver aid to some 50,000 people, begin a vaccination campaign for around 10,000 children and conduct a rapid needs assessment during their visit to the camp, Lowcock stressed.</p>
<p>US troops are protecting ISIL and starving tens of thousands of people at Al-Tanf to admittedly train anti-government forces in quest for its regime change fantasies in Syria. Yet, this is not the only case of Washington's detrimental and lethal presence in the country. The United States' military forces have established a much wider presence along Eastern Syria to the North-East.</p>
<p>The same foreign policy game is being played in Yemen. The US-backed, Saudi-led war on the impoverished nation is benefiting Al-Qaeda. Washington and its allies have been fighting the Ansarullah (Houthi) movement that has been the only force fighting the Al-Qaeda terrorists in the country, while the Saudi-backed militants of Mansour Hadi have admittedly been working with Al-Qaeda in a number of regions to fight off Ansarullah popular movement. Again, the US helps Al-Qaeda in Yemen to prolong the war, justify occupation, protect Israel and Saudi Arabia, plunder Yemen’s energy resources, and fight the Iranian influence in the Peninsula.</p>
<p>Long story short, the United States and its regional allies are aiding ISIL and Al-Qaeda, which did attack the West and the region. But they justify such deadly ignorance on the pretext of containing Iran in the region - a country that hasn’t attacked its neighbors for more than two hundred years and is at the forefront of the war on terror in Syria.</p>
<p>Meaning, the US-led warmongers are supporting various terrorist groups for their regime change fantasies, and under international law they are complicit in war crimes and crimes committed against humanity by their terror proxies or due to their direct and indirect protection and support for internationally recognized terrorist groups.</p>
</div>
<span class="field-label">
Post date:
</span>
<div class="field-post-date inline">
Wednesday, 31 October 2018 </div>
Wed, 31 Oct 2018 07:12:51 +0000Roosta38732 at http://en.iwpeace.comTerrorism and Contemporary International Lawhttp://en.iwpeace.com/articles/38175
<div class="field-image">
<a href="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/field/images/khansa_0.jpg"><img src="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/styles/480x/public/field/images/khansa_0.jpg?itok=n8yCqcUm" width="480" height="304" alt="" /></a> </div>
<div class="field-body">
<p><strong>All types of terrorism that intersect with the system of international interests, economic development, and freedom of the market (criteria defining the new international system) have created objections to the link between the emergence of violence in all its forms and applications, and the strict, coercive, and unfair regulations imposed by them on the other countries of the world.</strong><br />
The justification for operations of state terrorism, selective attitudes, looting of people’s resources, economic dominance, military action, and the imposition of economic blockades – all this is justified by allegations that they will bring peace, human rights, and democracy. The United States has carefully silenced opposing opinions and disseminated only its own definition of terrorism. It has made sure to prevent any commitment to a specific legal definition of terrorism created by unified global public opinion and by international institutions and organizations; instead, they prefer – the United States – to keep the definition open to different options and explanations.<br />
It was necessary for the United States, in order to implement its plan in the Middle East, to put a non-Arab element between the Arab countries as its starting point for any military action in the region. This was the reason for their recognition of the Zionist entity and their alliance with (Israel). Since then the United States has worked to strengthen Israel by all and any means. And for (Israel) to be able to take a strong stand in the face of the Arab countries as a whole, it must be shown as an economic, political, and military power. So it was that the United States provided all the required support for Israel to enjoy recognition and become a force not to be reckoned with. For this purpose, there has been U.S. support of Israel in global institutions that ignore the aggression on Palestinian territories and the killings and displacements, starvation and genocide.</p>
<p><strong>State Practice and the International Order</strong><br />
The United States continues a policy of persuasion, threats, and intimidation in order to create an international coalition that allows them to monopolize the right to self-defense and the fight against terrorism. The attack of September 11 provided the U.S. with a good opportunity to reshuffle their cards; it was time to settle all accounts with opponents of their approach to capitalism and globalization. The map of the fight against terrorism that was prepared by the United States could not be expected to be limited to only one or two targets, and does not accept any restrictions or specifications, but includes all who take exception to the American way. <br />
In such an atmosphere, and within the backdrop of widespread accusations and questioning of the concept of liberation movements and national struggles, including the recent questioning of the Lebanese resistance, it seems that there is a formula whose strands are still being woven, based on the assumption that alternatives to capitalist thought don’t exist, and that the global system of capitalism will continue to strengthen its positions in a decisive way without competitors or concerns. Their tasks of the time are centered around how to grab all the cards of the political game and put them in the hands of the U.S. administration and its strong arm of globalization, in order to give it the legal right and international cover to impose its hegemony and its definition of terrorism, despite the recognition of many of the arbitrary crimes committed by the U.S. administration. This motivates the escalation of the struggle and energizes the masses to deter the threat posed on humanity by the arbitrary and selective policies that prioritize the interests of capitalism. Here emerged the heroic Palestinian resistance, which has continued to resist since then. Entering its sixth year, the Palestinian uprising is still at the height of its power. With every criminal act done by Zionist enemy forces and attacks carried out on our children, elders, and women, hands rise and voices shout for the victory of the Palestinian resistance.<br />
But where is international law in all of these massacres and atrocities? Where are the international institutions that are meant to deal with establishing global peace and creating a better world of kindness, love and nonviolence?<br />
In what follows, we will see some of the statements of international law and some of the acts of global institutions that are supposed to be there to protect the vulnerable and to help the oppressed. Of course, in principle, no law endorses violence and fighting. But is there an applicable law that punishes acts of violence, especially in a unipolar world of patronage?<br />
The United States was at the center of several attempts aimed at the definition of the phenomena of political violence, and the distinction between terrorism and legitimate resistance to occupation. The first decision issued by the General Assembly of the United Nations concerning the treatment of terrorism (Resolution Number 3034, Date: 18/12/1972) was clearly on the side of confirming the legitimacy of struggle for national liberation and on distinguishing between this and the problem of international terrorism.</p>
<p><strong>The Security Council Resolutions</strong><br />
Regardless of what the Security Council represents as systems, laws and decisions that take the character of justice and equity, their actions are, in fact, completely different and take the character of oppression and injustice, as is the case of Palestine and Iraq on one side and Israel on the other. Decisions are obligatory on the first and not binding on the second. Take Israel and South Africa, two racist regimes; the first system is no longer described as a racist regime by decision of the Security Council, the second is no longer a racist regime because of the demise of the system; yet this is not called, as some would like to call it, selective attention or double standards. The truth is that the Security Council of the United Nations is an International Zionist Security Council, and therefore there is no so-called double standard, there is only one standard that measures all things according to the vision of the Zionist Israelis. This standard is what created the State of Israel and maintains its survival and continuity.<br />
Let’s ask these questions: How many countries were concerned about the fate of the Jews? What is the need for the existence of a state for the Jews, since Judaism is a religion and not an ethnicity, and even if it is, how does this give them the legitimacy to establish a state? There are Kurds, Armenians, Albanians of Kosovo and many others who are already on their own land! Why doesn’t the Security Council make nations for them?! Instead, it condones their extermination and repression, especially if they are Muslims, such as in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Chechnya, or enemies to an ally of the Jews as in the case of the Kurds of Turkey. When it comes to Iraq, however, the Kurds in the north have become a matter of humanitarian concern to the Security Council. What is the interest of the nations of the world and the Security Council in the establishment of a Jewish state when the regimes in most countries are secular, even in most Arab and Islamic states; if not for the Security Council being purely Zionist. But how did the Jews achieve this?<br />
The answer is very simple. They are able to ensure a majority for the issue of any decision they want to pass by working behind the scenes and exercising persuasion and intimidation, both economical and political, on the members of the Security Council. In addition there exists the right of veto by the permanent members, including three states in favor of Israel because of being economically controlled, when only one is enough to disable any decision that does not serve the interests of Zionism. As for the two other countries, Russia and China, we cannot hope for any good from them, as they are often going along with America for the sake of political appeasement, they have a poor track record when it comes to human rights in China, or the persecution of their neighbors and or ethnic and religious minorities in Russia, not to speak of the multi-faceted economic temptation. If one of these two countries thought to use the veto on any decision that serves the State of Israel, it would be labeled as anti-Semitic and Nazi, and the World Zionist media machine would start humming; hence these things become settled in advance.</p>
<p><strong>Humanitarian Agencies in the United Nations</strong><br />
What do these organizations call for? They call for human rights, women’s freedom, birth control, children's rights, and other freedoms and rights. Calling for these rights and freedoms often takes political form. Look at the countries accused of violating these rights and freedoms, it is the Arab-Islamic countries first, Muslim and non-Arab countries second, and communist countries third, and for any other countries they are only talk and no action. What are they expecting? Look at social life in the West, which allows these freedoms and rights, and you'll find that the answer is as follows:<br />
Freedom of thought has resulted in idolatry, atheism and the worship and consecration of physical things. Women are liberated so they gave up their traditional role of motherhood and raising their children; this has led to all kinds of immorality, pornography, prostitution, and women are treated as pieces of meat, vulnerable to predators. Children are liberated so they disrespect parents and teachers, rebel at puberty, leave their families, and care only to satisfy their own instincts and desires. From the above we can conclude that this claim of protecting rights and freedoms is actually rebellion against human nature and norms, and against the spiritual and moral values provided by the monotheistic religions as a way of life. It aims to destroy the family, which is the cornerstone of building societies, deprive the father of his leadership role, leading to the dismantling of relations between family members and the loss of shared visions for survival and continuity, and to increase illegal birth - children of adultery - the mankind’s greatest evil before God. As for us, we are on our way to face these Zionist claims with the efforts of our thinkers, experts, and specialists in the fields of emancipation, liberation, and economic and cultural, reform. And we achieve this soon, unless God calls us to rest in peace first.<br />
</p>
<p>
</p>
</div>
<span class="field-label">
Authors:
</span>
<div class="field-authors inline">
<a href="/authors/dr-mrs-may-el-khansa-human-rights-activist-islamic-world-0">Dr Mrs May El-Khansa human rights activist in the Islamic world</a> </div>
<span class="field-label">
Post date:
</span>
<div class="field-post-date inline">
Sunday, 20 August 2017 </div>
<ul class="field-tags">
<li>
<a href="/tags/terrorism">Terrorism</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/contemporary-international-law">Contemporary International Law</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/peace">Peace</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/un">un</a> </li>
</ul>
Sun, 20 Aug 2017 12:47:51 +0000Reshad38175 at http://en.iwpeace.com Iran’s Role in Resolving Syrian Crisis is Commendablehttp://en.iwpeace.com/articles/38270
<div class="field-image">
<a href="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/field/images/82485088-71524401.jpg"><img src="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/styles/480x/public/field/images/82485088-71524401.jpg?itok=qL1X2CdB" width="480" height="361" alt="" /></a> </div>
<div class="field-body">
<p><strong>Peter Ford, former UK ambassador in Damascus slams British policy towards Syria and believes that Iran’s role in resolving Syrian crisis is commendable.</strong></p>
<p>In an interview with IRNA in London and giving his assessment on British foreign policy towards Syria, Ford said, 'I am very opposed to the British policy. I am afraid my government has been on the wrong track since 2011. Their policy has been and remains to be the overthrow of the government of Syria. This has only made the situation worse. The British government unfortunately has been supplying aid to some of the armed groups. They claim that these armed groups are moderates, but I do not believe that; I believe that many of them are extremists like most of the armed opposition in Syria. The British government has also been supporting EU sanctions against Syria which have achieved nothing and have made the situation worse for ordinary Syrians and increased the refugee problem.'</p>
<p>Commenting on the narrative that Iran is a threat to the region, the British former ambassador to Damascus said,<br />
'I totally disagree, I think that the opposite is the truth. I think that Iran has reacted to the provocations of the Persian Gulf and the Western countries which began the problem by trying to undermine the secular government of Syria. Iran commendably went to the assistance of the government of Syria and has continued trying to help it in the ways that we know.</p>
<p>To the question whether the overthrow of Bashar Assad is the solution for Syria, Ford said, 'This is yesterday's solution. Even Americans seem to have come around to the realization that Bashar Assad is here to stay.<br />
Almost 10 days ago Trump administration announced that it was no longer their official policy to try to remove Assad and the priority was to remove ISIS. So I think almost everyone except the British government now sees the reality that President Assad is not going to be removed.</p>
<p>
</p>
</div>
<span class="field-label">
Reference:
</span>
<div class="field-reference inline">
<a href="http://www.irna.ir/en/News/82485088/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Irna</a> </div>
<span class="field-label">
Post date:
</span>
<div class="field-post-date inline">
Wednesday, 12 April 2017 </div>
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 09:56:00 +0000Reshad38270 at http://en.iwpeace.com Yemen Crisis Escalated by Saudi Arabiahttp://en.iwpeace.com/articles/38258
<div class="field-image">
<a href="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/field/images/82477888-71510375.jpg"><img src="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/styles/480x/public/field/images/82477888-71510375.jpg?itok=lgj6BvNq" width="480" height="501" alt="" /></a> </div>
<div class="field-body">
<p><strong>A prominent Indian expert on international affairs on Thursday said that Yemen conflict was a domestic issue, but was escalated by Saudi Arabia, its allies and the US.</strong></p>
<p>In an exclusive interview with IRNA, Prof. Bansidhar Pradhan, former Chairperson of Centre for West Asian Studies (CWAS) at School of International Studies (SIS) in Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi said, “Yemen, which is facing serious humanitarian crisis right now, at the first step requires a sustainable cease-fire and a cessation of air strikes which have caused damage to the infrastructure of the country and had also killed civilians.<br />
After that point, the fate of the country should be left to people to decide for themselves about the type of government they required”.</p>
<p>Criticizing the intervention by the external forces, Pradhan was of the view that Saudi Arabia, which is a monarch country, was afraid of creating the democratic system in Yemen which could be a threat to the foundations to its monarchy, and that led to its intervention.</p>
<p>“Mindless airstrikes will never resolve the situation, and will only escalate further and engulf the whole area. Saudi government is not ready for a political solution. They want to finish Houthis and then want a political solution. I believe without the expulsion of the external powers, there cannot be some sort of political settlement to get out of this crisis. It should be resolved through political negotiations by the people of that country,” stressed the Indian expert.</p>
<p>To a question on Iran’s being accused of arming the Houthis, Prof. Pradhan categorically rejected the accusation. He said that though Iran is blamed due to regional dynamics, but it is always insisting for negotiations.</p>
<p>The Indian scholar, while slamming the international human rights watchdogs, said that it is very unfortunate that humanitarian crisis is continuing in Yemen without world attention. The UN and other major powers are not paying attention.</p>
<p>“According to a UNICEF report, approximately 370,000 children are on the verge of starvation. At least the UN should not turn a blind eye to this grave situation”, emphasized Prof. Pradhan.</p>
<p>The domestic conflict in Yemen began in 2015. At first it was between two factions claiming to constitute the Yemeni government, along with their supporters and allies. But, the Saudi-led intervention escalated the conflict and at present the country is facing a severe humanitarian crisis.</p>
<p>The Saudi intervention, which has included widespread bombing of civilian areas, has been sharply condemned by the international community. But, Saudi Arabia and its allies have not been forced to stop the mindless airstrikes on civilians.</p>
<p>According to the UN, from the beginning till March 2017 16,200 people have been killed in Yeman, including 10,000 civilians. Although the figure could be much more than that.</p>
<p>As per media reports, millions of Yemenis have been deprived of water, food and electricity as a result of the conflict.</p>
<p>
</p>
</div>
<span class="field-label">
Reference:
</span>
<div class="field-reference inline">
<a href="http://www.irna.ir/en/News/82477888/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Irna</a> </div>
<span class="field-label">
Post date:
</span>
<div class="field-post-date inline">
Monday, 03 April 2017 </div>
<ul class="field-tags">
<li>
<a href="/tags/yemen">Yemen</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/crisis">Crisis</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/escalated">escalated</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/saudi-arabia">Saudi Arabia</a> </li>
</ul>
Mon, 03 Apr 2017 07:31:51 +0000Reshad38258 at http://en.iwpeace.com 1979 Islamic Revolution Changed Political Attitude in Region http://en.iwpeace.com/articles/38155
<div class="field-image">
<a href="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/field/images/6.gif"><img src="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/styles/480x/public/field/images/6.gif?itok=j4SwP0bg" width="480" height="360" alt="" /></a> </div>
<div class="field-body">
<p><strong> Iran’s Islamic Revolution got triumph at time when the East and West blocs were unrivaled and the Arab states had to join the East in order to challenge the US.</strong></p>
<p>Iran’s Islamic Revolution got triumph at time when the East and West blocs were unrivaled and the Arab states had to join the East in order to challenge the US. Nationalist movements emerged based on the approach however they got frustrated amid back-to-back Arab armies’ failures in the Six-day war in 1967 as well as Arab inability to face the existing challenges.</p>
<p>The emergence of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 however presented the Palestinian nation with an effective model for facing the US and the occupier Israel. The Iranian revolution got triumph at time when the Israeli arm was perceived to be invincible and the desperate Arab states sought the track of compromise, notably present in the then Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat’s peace treaty with the occupier Israel.</p>
<p>Imam Khomeini, the father of the revolution presented a new definition of revolution and struggle to the world that was different from the conventional norms that were controlled by the western governments. The development thus made the western states to worry and plan for what they perceived as a threat.</p>
<p>The notion of ‘Iranophobia’ was fabricated amid the situation in a bid to contain the revolution. Actually, the western governments were concerned about the global scope of Imam Khomeini’s revolution. Imam has put on his agenda from the first to struggle the notion of world arrogance that stood for the hegemonic approach of the so-called world powers towards other nations.</p>
<p>Imam Khomieni’s revolution expanded and contributed to the development of popular-Islamic movements that subsequently replaced the nationalist movements.</p>
<p>The developments led to the formation of Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s movements and inspired leftist Palestinian movements to review their policy.</p>
<p>What actually goes on the region now is the achievement of three decades of the Iranian revolution that inspired all Muslims across the world.</p>
<p>The inspiration led to the ouster of Arab dictators in the region and removed the pillars of despots.</p>
<p>Today the free nations of the region are pursuing to establish a system of government based on Islamic faith after removing the secular and liberal elements as remnants of the previous, hegemony-based systems.<br />
</p>
</div>
<span class="field-label">
Authors:
</span>
<div class="field-authors inline">
<a href="/authors/mehdi-azizi">Mehdi Azizi</a> </div>
<span class="field-label">
Reference:
</span>
<div class="field-reference inline">
<a href="http://english.qodsna.com/NewsPage.aspx?newsid=128685" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Qodsna</a> </div>
<span class="field-label">
Post date:
</span>
<div class="field-post-date inline">
Sunday, 05 February 2017 </div>
<ul class="field-tags">
<li>
<a href="/tags/1979-islamic-revolution">1979 Islamic Revolution</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/changed">Changed</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/political">Political</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/attitude">Attitude</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/region">Region</a> </li>
</ul>
Sun, 05 Feb 2017 09:59:13 +0000Reshad38155 at http://en.iwpeace.com Focus on Positive and Negative Approaches to Peacehttp://en.iwpeace.com/articles/38077
<div class="field-image">
<a href="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/field/images/images_0.jpg"><img src="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/styles/480x/public/field/images/images_0.jpg?itok=LnwqTQa1" width="480" height="335" alt="" /></a> </div>
<div class="field-body">
<p><strong>Here, I want to discuss those ideas which stand in contrast to common peace building and peacemaking views. There are two kinds of peace approaches in security theories: a positive approach and a negative approach.</strong><br />
Proponents of the positive approach maintain that peace means absence of war. Some of them believe in the necessity of building peace and there are important theorists in this area with serious arguments. The absence of war as requisite of peace has been also underlined in liberalistic and neoliberal schools which see peace only in the context of security. As a result, they maintain that peace can only exist when security exists too.<br />
Therefore, militaries are the main factor which endangers peace and security strategists are the main parties which make plan for peace. What happens in the United Nations or other organizations followed what really happens in the world because political discourse is a main factor determining peace and security. Therefore, realism will be more useful here. Some believe that military men only approach peace from the viewpoint of their own benefits. Therefore, we should focus on frameworks which shape mentality of security strategists and military men. In other words, there are many approaches here one of which was the approach of an international government. It argued that “war” is the main reality, not peace and all plans should be based on war.<br />
At present, nongovernmental organizations and other influential entities have been discussing war and peace. Today, states are not the sole parties involved with peace or war, but there are other groups which can play an effective role in delineating the concepts of peace and war. Here, I will mention few claims against us (Iran) in Europe and elsewhere in the West.<br />
What does it mean when Western countries claim that we defend peace on the one hand, while also supporting freedom movements, on the other hand? They say that we talk about peace while, at the same time, promoting war and conflict. We should immediately say that the peace formulated by them is not a just peace and the image we have of peace is quite different from their image. Our image is shaped by the military men while their image is made by security strategists.<br />
As a result, these viewpoints will never converge. This interest-based viewpoint has been institutionalized in their minds. Therefore, a security-based approach to peace does not value peace as an absolute value, but as the absence of resistance. They say that peace exists where your enemies cannot resist you. This is quite different from the concept of peace in legal texts. They try to formulate their national security and military strategies in such a way as to prevent others from resisting them. In that case peace would exist. Such analysts maintain that countries should move to increase their military capacities. On the other hand, the military men also emphasize that the world is still exposed to serious threats of war and violence. Since they think this way, they also act this way. See how Western countries perform in Iraq or Afghanistan. How they waited for resolutions to be passed by the United Nations before taking action. These examples attest to the existence of a military approach to the concept of peace.<br />
</p>
</div>
<span class="field-label">
Authors:
</span>
<div class="field-authors inline">
<a href="/authors/dr-reza-kalhor">Dr. Reza Kalhor</a> </div>
<span class="field-label">
Post date:
</span>
<div class="field-post-date inline">
Sunday, 01 January 2017 </div>
<ul class="field-tags">
<li>
<a href="/tags/focus">Focus</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/positive">Positive</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/negative">Negative</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/approaches-t">Approaches t</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/peace">Peace</a> </li>
</ul>
Sun, 01 Jan 2017 08:00:19 +0000Reshad38077 at http://en.iwpeace.comPeace from the Islamic Perspectivehttp://en.iwpeace.com/articles/38054
<div class="field-image">
<a href="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/field/images/zahir_0.jpg"><img src="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/styles/480x/public/field/images/zahir_0.jpg?itok=le7dn9Fy" width="480" height="320" alt="" /></a> </div>
<div class="field-body">
<p>
Islam encourages spreading peace, and made it one the greatest virtues. The noble prophet described it as the best moral of people in this life and in the other life when he said “Shouldn’t I tell you about the best morals of the people in this life and the other life… spreading peace in the world”. Imam Mohamed Ibn Ali Ibn Alhussein (Albaqer) (A.S.) narrated that Salaman (R.A.) said “spread Allah’s peace, but Allah’s peace does not go to the unjust”. “What is meant by this is that the benefit wouldn’t reach the unjust because of the fact that they are unjust; the reason behind that is what was mentioned, that helping the unjust is another form of injustice that man should renounce”.<br />
In the explanation of the Quran by Mohamed Rashid Reda in Almanar, he mentions the following about peace: “Islam is a general religion, and among its objectives is spreading its values and virtues among people, even if gradually, and to attract them towards each other so that all humans become brothers. One of the Islamic values that was common in the time of the prophet is spreading peace except for to combatants; whoever peace is announced upon is safe, and anyone who would harm him is considered a traitor and breaking the promise”.<br />
He continues: “Spreading peace was mentioned as one of the qualities of the believers in the hadiths, and given as a reason of love among them. This is mentioned in the hadith: ‘the best kind of Islam is: giving food, and delivering peace to those who you know and you don’t’ and also in the sahih hadiths ‘Spread peace between you, you will love one another’, ‘spread peace and you will be in peace’ and ‘three things, whoever has them is having the whole belief, justice with yourself, giving peace to the world, and giving despite your need’. This is one of the values of the global peace”.<br />
All of these great hadiths refer to the greatness and value of peace and those who spread it, knowing that those who are unjust and don’t keep promises and treaties won’t get peace because they have opposed its basis and requirements. Facing them is considered an action of spreading peace, as those who face them are trying to return rights to their owners - which means returning things to their proper place - and only with that will justice be established. Protecting rights and deterring abusers, as a way of being merciful and caring to them, establishes justice.<br />
In addition to the concept of Muslims choosing peace and respecting treaties, many verses are mentioned in the Quran that encourage and state the necessity of facing the unjust and injustice to order to protect rights, establish justice, and restore peace. We will mention some of these verses, with explanations from the book Al-mizan fe Tafseer Alquran, in order to understand its noble contents that aim to spread peace between people:<br />
In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful<br />
“Allah only forbids you, with regard to those who fight you for (your) Faith, and drive you out of your homes, and support (others) in driving you out, from turning to them (for friendship and protection). It is such as turn to them (in these circumstances) that do wrong.” Quran [60-9]<br />
The Almighty says: “Allah only forbids you, with regard to those who fight you for (your) Faith, and drive you out of your homes, and support (others) in driving you out, from turning to them (for friendship and protection).” Those who are meant by “who fight you” etc. are the unbelievers in Mecca and “support in driving” is helping and standing with those doing it. When He says “It is such as turn to them (in these circumstances) that do wrong”, “them” refers exclusively to the unbelievers in Mecca and those who support them, it does not mean all nonbelievers in general.<br />
In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful<br />
“(They are) those who have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right― (for no cause) except that they say ‘Our Lord is Allah’. Did not Allah check one set of people by means of another there would surely have been pulled down monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of Allah is commemorated in abundant measure. Allah will certainly aid those who aid His (cause); for verily Allah is Full of Strength, Exalted in Might” Quran [22-40].<br />
This describes those who were oppressed and expelled from their homes. The nonbelievers expelled them from their houses in Mecca, without having the right to do that, and did not even let them get any supplies. They hurt them and continued to increase the torture until they impelled them to leave Mecca, leave their homes and money, and migrate to another land. Some went to Abyssinia (Ethiopia) , others to Medina after the migration of the prophet, peace be upon him. Thus, they expelled them by making them impelled to leave. Fighting should be the last option of defense, and should only be used in the case of the failure of every other means of defense, just as amputation should be the last resort in the treatment of infection. This is because fighting causes the death of some people in order for others to live. Bearing hardships is part of living in human society, not only for humans but for any partially conscious or independent creature.<br />
In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful<br />
“Be not weary and faint-hearted, crying for peace. When ye should be Uppermost: for Allah is with you and will never put you in loss for your (good) deeds” Quran [47-35].<br />
The meaning of the verse is that it is not the way of Allah or his prophet to forget about your deeds or retract God’s forgiveness, so don’t get weak during the fight or invite the unbelievers to a truce; you are the winners and God will help you to gain victory over them. You will not lose the rewards of your good deeds; He will give them to you fully.<br />
In this verse Allah promises the believers victory; they will prevail if they obey Allah and his prophet. He says<br />
“So do not become weak (against your enemy), nor be sad, and you will be superior (in victory) if you are indeed (true) believers” Quran [3:139].<br />
These verses point to the obligation of fighting injustice, tyranny, and the unjust only as a last resort, after having advised them of all peaceful ways. This fighting is a way of spreading peace by stopping injustice and establishing justice through returning taken rights. A man should not only condemn injustice silently and verbally, as accepting injustice is a form of injustice in itself. It is a duty to not make peace with the unjust when they insist on their aggression and injustice, as this is considered as surrender, humiliation, and the loss of legitimate rights. It is these kinds of unjust actions that encourage the unjust and give them the legitimacy to continue with their corrupted actions that aren’t in line with the definitions of justice and peace.<br />
This explains the invalidity of making peace with the unjust while they are insisting on their actions, as the oppressed might be forced to hold a compliant truce with the oppressors and tyrants, as mentioned in the definitions. This kind of truce and peace with oppressors is basically void, as what was built on something invalid is invalid in itself. In addition, the verses establish basic human rights such as freedom to believe and worship, protecting property and the prohibition of violating it , the prohibition of violating others and their rights, and the right and necessity of self defense in the face of oppression or assault, in order to establish justice and, as a result, peace among all.<br />
Sources of Extremism and Terrorism (Intellectual and Physical Terrorism)<br />
Terrorism arises when a person or institution deals with different opinions by ignoring and deleting them, both intellectually and in action. Tyrannical thinking is only an expression of the culture of deleting the “other” who has a different opinion or path. This kind of tyrannical thinking works by oppressing other opinions in word and action, and punishing other opinions through exercising social, cultural, economical, and political exclusion, until the different opinions surrender to the oppressing one. This kind of tyranny is practiced by connecting it with ideologies and nationalities, criminalizing other opinions, and to creating an environment where it is possible to exclude others. This kind of tyranny is usually used to monopolize power and resources and to use them for their own interests, under the name of nation or ideology. But history and the divine law confirm that tyranny and injustice cannot maintain power or resources neither do compliance treaties; these only lead to their confirmed demise because of the repulsion of the people when conditions, which are always variable and never constant, change. The best evidence of this is the Arab Spring that occurred in so many Islamic countries - people demanded dignity, freedom, and the right of self-determination free from internal or external control.<br />
The seriousness of opinion tyranny is when it is done in the name of religion, which means that the tyrant is going against divine law, says that he owns the absolute perfect divine truth and others don’t, and thinks that he rules in the name of God and whoever disagrees with him is disagreeing with God and will therefore be judged by God’s law and punished by being exiled, tortured or killed.<br />
Opinion tyranny is considered intellectual terrorism because it prevents people who have different ideas, opinions, and worldviews from expressing them in public or practicing them. They are usually prevented by taking away their personal rights such as individual and public freedom in all its forms and their right to form their own present and future. They become subjected to different types of pressure to repress their thoughts and expression.<br />
Intellectual terrorism transforms into physical terrorism when it assassinates and creates violence for individuals or genocide against societies. Physical terrorism is only a result of intellectual terrorism, which is considered an introduction to physical terrorism. Our societies are, in general, diseased with this kind of intellectual extremity that monopolizes the absolute truth and pushes in the direction of public control on societies by the tyrant ruling class and international powers that control people’s decisions to serve their own goals and interests. This is the new world system that we were preached to about; however the uprisings of the Arab Spring started to change the present and the future by regaining their dignity, freedom and rights. This uprising, insha’Allah (by the grace of God), will sweep away the origins of extremity and intellectual terrorism, as well physical terrorism, on the way to achieving humanity through spreading just peace for all societies. This era could perfectly be called the Era of the People.<br />
Spreading the Culture of Peace and Facing Terrorism<br />
One of the most important elements in spreading the culture of peace and facing terrorism is working on maintaining human rights, especially the rights of those with whom we disagree, even before those with whom we agree. Disagreement in opinions is actually the prosperity of a people and an entrance to integrity. It is important to work on sharing what’s on people’s minds in order to ensure the positive benefit from differences in points of view, to face an idea with an idea, to listen to what is being said, and following whichever is deemed better after reasonable discussion between specialists and decision makers. It is important to be careful not to turn differences into disagreements through tyranny in opinion and decision-making. The sharing of minds only happens between those who are different; there is no point in the sharing of minds that are identical as there is nothing there to use for integrity. Even foods and drinks are diverse. One does not integrate with oneself, but with others through common human values that reinforce societies, even those that are different in their thoughts and ideas.<br />
It is normal that a human integrates with other humans based on a positive outlook about cooperation in humanity, and it is even more noble if they have in common the same divine belief. This requires basic rules of interaction that establish positive integrity and protect from negativity. These basic rules are based on the following:<br />
A. The Theory of Absolute Truth<br />
It is constant in every way, all the time, and never changes; this is only for what is always constant and exclusively in the absolute right, which is Allah the Almighty.<br />
Absolute truth is defined as whatever is true at one time and in one place is true at all times and in all places. What is true for one person is true for all people. Truth is true whether we believe it or not. Truth is discovered or it is revealed, it is not invented by a culture or by religious men.</p>
<p>B. The Theory of Relative Truth:<br />
it is defined as truth that is true at only one time and in one place. It is true to some people and not to others. It is true now but it may not have been true in the past and may not be again in the future. It is always subject to change. It is also subject to the perspective of people.<br />
A man can act believing that he has the absolute truth, and herein lies the danger and the ignition of extremism and intellectual terrorism (which leads to physical terrorism). When a man thinks that whoever disagrees with his thoughts is disagreeing with the truth, and that they are wrong, must be faced, and a limit put on them, this is the cradle of human and international conflict. Then things turn from sanity and subjectivity to personalizing the subjects, and diversity in opinion and thought to disagreement that calls on conflict in all its forms. What makes this even more dangerous is if one is making the disagreement in the name of religion, and thus he thinks that whoever disagrees with his opinion is against the truth, and who is against the truth is against God and his prophet, and as a result is out of the religion and must be killed. This is the start of takfiri thinking, that is against humanity and religion, and that snatches mercy from man’s heart and wisdom from his mind.</p>
<p>C. Fuzzy Logic:<br />
this idiomatic expression appeared academically in 1965 in the research of Dr. Tariq Lotfy, the founder of this theory. Fuzzy logic refers to the study of the ways and the basis of the human mind. It is defined as a multi-variable system that allows one to define values that are between the classic definitions of either yes or no, right or wrong, black or white, etc. In this way it is possible to simulate the human way of thinking when programming computers.(20)</p>
<p>D. Other Issues<br />
First: The free flow of ideas and developing them to sustain innovation and renovation.<br />
Second: Working upon the basis of what is in common, while refining the differences. This happens by respecting others’ opinions on the ground of the common fate of humanity, and not adopting the way of deleting the other.<br />
Different opinions are actually a grace, not an indignation, and are evidence of the intellectual diversity of the society and are what allow it, when put in institutional frameworks, to advance and prosper. We shouldn’t be scared of other opinions; we should receive them and discuss them with the aim of integrating with them. Differences are the well of innovation and creativity, and as such we should include them in institutional frameworks as a guarantee of the continuous advancement of society. Doing this will guarantee the dignity of all humans, as the leader of believers, Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib (A.S.) said, “People are of two kinds, your brother in religion or your peer in humanity”.<br />
Allah the Almighty talked of using the policy of peace and softness and avoiding violence and harshness. He talked of the policy of forgiveness, and using systems like Shura (consultation) as a way of free, persuasive, wise, peaceful, and cooperative conversation and decision-making: “And by the Mercy of Allah, you dealt with them gently. And had you been severe and harsh hearted, they would have broken away from about you” Quran [3:159]<br />
The starting point to this is tolerance, accepting the other, and that what is scientifically defined as the theory of relative truth, as we mentioned. In other words, a man doesn’t own the absolute truth to judge the others by, especially to judge whether they are or are not unbelievers or human. A man should integrate by accepting the other, communicating and dialoguing with him, as this other might have a part of truth and this will help towards integrity and intellectual and spiritual richness. One should avoid a narrow point of view and pre-judging people before interacting with them.<br />
Based on the above, and because countries prioritize and speak in the language of interests rather than the language of values in international relationships, and because of the performance of these countries in organizations that haven’t achieved the desired state of peace between humans, we think that it is vital to focus on civil society organizations that prioritize values rather than interests, to activate public diplomacy between them, to reinforce relationships and integration between people, and through a cultural-social process to face intellectual extremism and tyranny, and as a result face the basis and premise of terrorism.<br />
Based on this we suggest working with civil society organizations on the practical goal of creating a unified framework that will allow them to adopt professional, specified programs with the aim of spreading peace and facing terrorism individually, socially and internationally. These are outlined along the following axes:<br />
A. Strategic Axis (public strategic thinking forums): coordinates between institutions of public strategic thinking, suggests common initiatives, and unifies terms and definitions in order to maximize the effectiveness of all initiatives.<br />
B. Cultural and Social Axes (cultural organizations working in cultural dialogue and social interaction): works on initiatives and projects specialized in cultural and social approaches between people, and on sustaining communication through cultural and social events.<br />
C. Human Rights and Legal Axes (public human rights and legal organizations): works on the observation and the follow-up of violations and exchanging information, with the aim of jointly and simultaneously facing all national and international forums.<br />
D. Political Axis (political pressure groups and lobbies): works on communication and coordination between all the political pressure groups towards a joint and simultaneous facing for all national and international decision makers.<br />
E. Media Axis (public media organizations): works on media initiatives, exchanging information, and coordination between the media campaigns of different media, in order to face the violators of human rights and of public peace at the regional and national level, and international peace at the international level.<br />
F. Human Aid Axis (humanitarian relief services organizations): offers initiatives of common cooperation between relief organizations, organizing and coordinating activities according to their available capacities, and working on observing injustice and violation as a start to facing the violators.<br />
G. Environmental Axis (organizations that defend the environment): works on coordinating between environmental organizations about all crimes and violations against the environment that harm human health and affect society and future generations.<br />
After this, coordination will be held between similar civil society organizations interested in participating, from all around the world, to suggest initiatives and projects and adopt their own agenda into an integrated strategy that unifies their efforts and energies and focuses them against the tyrannical agencies that promote terrorism and violate peace.<br />
Recommendations<br />
Based on what was presented in this paper analyzing the culture of peace and facing terrorism, we conclude with the following recommendations:<br />
First: develop public relationships between active civil society organizations around the world, with no exceptions, and activate public diplomacy objectively and systematically to guarantee a constant presence on different forums in order to create and sustain a fair, comprehensive, and sustainable peace on the basis of rightness and fairness.<br />
Second: Agreement between the civil society organizations that are active in peace, on a systematic work with multiple initiatives built on a system of priorities. This systematic organized work should use energies according to ability and potential and be based on objective conditions of each party to achieve peace.<br />
Third: enhance practical communication between knowledgeable people in the nations through building intellectual and operational networks between all civil society organizations in order to enhance coordination, concentrate efforts and energies, and maximize the effectiveness of their work.<br />
Fourth: transform all intellectual events into working programs that can be followed up and developed. These programs should be managed by a special follow-up and management authority that forms from the related civil society organizations and works on making work plans, coordinating events, and specialized initiatives in these axes:<br />
A. Strategic Axis (public strategic thinking forums)<br />
B. Cultural and Social Axes (cultural organizations working in cultural dialogue and social interaction)<br />
C. Human Rights and Legal Axes (public human rights and legal organizations)<br />
D. Political Axis (political pressure groups and lobbies)<br />
E. Media Axis (public media organizations)<br />
F. Human Aid Axis (humanitarian relief services organizations)<br />
G. Environmental Axis (organizations that defend the environment)</p>
</div>
<span class="field-label">
Post date:
</span>
<div class="field-post-date inline">
Tuesday, 20 December 2016 </div>
<ul class="field-tags">
<li>
<a href="/tags/peace">Peace</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/islamic">Islamic</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/perspective">Perspective</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/spreading">Spreading</a> </li>
</ul>
Tue, 20 Dec 2016 09:39:46 +0000Reshad38054 at http://en.iwpeace.comInternational Day of Solidarity with Palestinianshttp://en.iwpeace.com/articles/38008
<div class="field-image">
<a href="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/field/images/14_7.jpg"><img src="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/styles/480x/public/field/images/14_7.jpg?itok=xlTm54Y_" width="480" height="270" alt="" /></a> </div>
<div class="field-body">
<p><strong>The United Nations declared November 29 the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People in 1977. </strong></p>
<p>The move was aimed at soothing Palestinian people for the UN’s role in approving resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, which came to be known as the Partition Resolution.</p>
<p>Undoubtedly, this day has been one of the darkest days in Palestinian history.The resolution recommended the creation of “independent Arab and Jewish states” and a Special International Regime for the city of Jerusalem, Al-Quds. In May 1948, Zionists waged a bloody war against Palestinians and occupied 78 percent of Palestinian territory.</p>
<p>They displaced nearly one million Palestinians and established their “state” in more than two thirds of Palestinian soil. The selection of November 29 by the UN sought to overshadow the body’s negative role in the establishment of Israel.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, November 29 is observed in various countries every year. Special ceremonies are also held to condemn the occupation of Palestine and highlight the plight of Palestinian people. Presently, Palestinians are still under occupation and they are deprived of the most basic health facilities. The violence of Israeli forces toward Palestinians and their children has added insult to injury.</p>
<p>According to the UN, Tel Aviv has posed serious threats to Palestinians, particularly children, byarresting, torturing and murdering them. For instance, UN reports say Israeli forces severely hit children on the head, or use shock devices which result in Palestinian children falling into a coma. Official reports indicate that 85 percent of children in Israeli jails are tortured.</p>
<p>Children have special rights in all countries, which have laws to defend the rights of children.</p>
<p>Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Childstipulates that:</p>
<p>* No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. Neithercapital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below the age of eighteen.</p>
<p>* No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort, and for the shortestappropriate period of time.</p>
<p>* Every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age. In particular, every child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults, unless it is considered to be in the child’s best interest not to do so, and the child shall have the right to maintain contact with his or her family through correspondence and visits, save in exceptional circumstances.</p>
<p>* Every child deprived of his or her liberty shall have the right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as well as the right to challenge the legality of the deprivation of his or her liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority, and to a prompt a decision on any such action.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, international laws are not observed universally and we are facing double standards.</p>
<p>The Israeli regime is an example which violates international laws and continues to commit crimes. The arrest,murder and repression of Palestinian children by Israelis demonstrate that this regime has never complied with international laws and the demands of the international community.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the international community has ignored atrocities perpetrated by the Israeli regime. Tel Aviv’s crimes against humanity do not draw any proper reactionsfrom the UN and human rights groups.</p>
<p>On aggregate, based on UN reports, the situation of Palestinian children is worrisome and their basic rights areviolated. This necessitates that human rights bodies take urgent action to prevent rther violations of children’s rights.</p>
<p>The occupying Israeli regime turns a blind eye to international laws, disobeys the decision of international institutions, including the UN Security Council and the General Assembly, and violates conventions and global resolutions.</p>
<p>In addition to committing war crimes, ethnic cleansing as well as systematic and massive violation of human rights, Israel is expanding its settlements and displacing more Palestinians.</p>
<p>It has also turned into a troublesome and problematic phenomenon by acquiring nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.</p>
<p>Tel Aviv has explicitly threatened global peace and security. Apart from observing the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the international community should spare no efforts to inform people across the globe of the plight of Palestinian children as well as the grave violation of human rights in the occupied territories. Such measures are essential to restoring the rights of the oppressed Palestinians.</p>
<p> </p>
</div>
<span class="field-label">
Authors:
</span>
<div class="field-authors inline">
<a href="/authors/afsaneh-reshad-has-doctorate-international-relations">Afsaneh Reshad has a doctorate in international relations.</a> </div>
<span class="field-label">
Post date:
</span>
<div class="field-post-date inline">
Saturday, 03 December 2016 </div>
<ul class="field-tags">
<li>
<a href="/tags/international-day">International Day</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/solidarity">Solidarity</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/palestinians">Palestinians</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/international-laws-0">international laws</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/human-rights">Human Rights</a> </li>
</ul>
Sat, 03 Dec 2016 10:32:01 +0000Reshad38008 at http://en.iwpeace.comSaudi Seeks to Commit Genocide in Yemenhttp://en.iwpeace.com/articles/37945
<div class="field-image">
<a href="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/field/images/15_5.jpg"><img src="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/styles/480x/public/field/images/15_5.jpg?itok=6AlRAZ-D" width="480" height="319" alt="" /></a> </div>
<div class="field-body">
<p><strong>Sayyid Sadiq al-Sharafi said that many crimes have been committed against the oppressed people of Yemen and added that Saudi Arabia’s goal is to commit genocide in Yemen and for them, there is no difference whether they bomb Yemeni markets, religious places, events, festivals or even hospitals.</strong></p>
<p> In an interview with Rasa News Agency, Sayyid Sadiq al-Sharafi, a Yemeni political analyst, reviewed the latest developments in Yemen and in reference to the launch of a missile by the Yemeni armed forces and their allies which reached the Saudi city of Jeddah explained that it can be said that there has never been another war in history like the Saud-imposed war on Yemen.</p>
<p>The leader of one of the Popular Committee’s praised the growing military might of his country’s army and Popular Committees in confrontation with the Saudi-led coalition and said that although the results of this war have been painful, “Today the people of Yemen have confronted the Saudi-American aggression and reached an advanced stage of military development and progress.”</p>
<p>He said that many crimes have been committed against the oppressed people of Yemen and added that Saudi Arabia’s goal is to commit genocide in Yemen and for them, there is no difference whether they bomb Yemeni markets, religious places, events, festivals or even hospitals.</p>
<p>Sayyid al-Sharafi stressed, “Saudis seek revenge on the Yemeni people and doesn’t give importance to the method that is used to achieve their aims. In the beginning, they acted like Daesh and beheaded people then they bombed many buildings and centres providing services and healthcare with banned weapons but now the army and Popular Committees have made great achievements,” he said.</p>
<p>The senior Yemeni human rights activist said that the destruction and military attacks only increase the people’s endurance and resistance and added, “One of the most important objectives that the army and Popular Committees have achieved is real military progress on the battlefield and the use of precise war strategies.”</p>
<p>He said that in his opinion, what is more important than all these advancements is the attainment of a variety of weapons technologies and improvements in the quality, accuracy and type of weapons that which the Popular Committees and national army can use.</p>
<p>Sayyid al-Sharafi added that as long as the Saudi aggression continues, cities which are more important than Jeddah and Najran will be targeted by Yemeni missiles and said, “Riyadh is one of the most important Saudi cities and it is our religious and legal right to engage in self-defence by targeting every military base that warplanes fly from and all weapons that the enemies use against us with our missiles.”</p>
<p>He stressed that it is the right of the Yemeni people to target the military and navies of the members of the coalition of countries which have partnered with Saudi Arabia in its aggression against Yemen including the United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.</p>
<p>“An example of this is the missile attack by the Ansarullah-allied Yemeni Republican Guard on an Emirati carrier near the Yemeni port city of Mokha,” he said.</p>
</div>
<span class="field-label">
Authors:
</span>
<div class="field-authors inline">
<a href="/authors/sayyid-sadiq-al-sharafi">Sayyid Sadiq al-Sharafi</a> </div>
<span class="field-label">
Reference:
</span>
<div class="field-reference inline">
<a href="http://en.rasanews.ir/detail/News/424890/5" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Rasanews</a> </div>
<span class="field-label">
Post date:
</span>
<div class="field-post-date inline">
Sunday, 13 November 2016 </div>
<ul class="field-tags">
<li>
<a href="/tags/genocide">Genocide</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/yemen">Yemen</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/war">war</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/human-dignity">Human Dignity</a> </li>
</ul>
Sun, 13 Nov 2016 11:11:45 +0000Reshad37945 at http://en.iwpeace.comHuman Rights Seat Saudi Base for Bombing Regionhttp://en.iwpeace.com/articles/37898
<div class="field-image">
<a href="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/field/images/5_44.jpg"><img src="http://en.iwpeace.com/sites/en.iwpeace.com/files/styles/480x/public/field/images/5_44.jpg?itok=j7aS74Pt" width="480" height="270" alt="" /></a> </div>
<div class="field-body">
<p><strong>The move by members of the United Nations General Assembly to reelect Saudi Arabia to represent the region on the UN Human Rights Commission has raised many eyebrows, and has shocked global rights advocates and organizations that hardly think to remove the repressive regime from their blacklists.</strong></p>
<p>Saudi Arabia, as the leader of the nine-nation coalition that launched a brutal military onslaught against the Yemeni people on March 26, 2015, for the next three years is expected to be in charge of reporting human rights abuses and war crimes in the region.</p>
<p>This comes while the regime, already well-known for its domestic rights violations, now is in the crosshairs of human rights advocates and organizations for its crimes in the neighboring country, Yemen.</p>
<p>British Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron speaking to The Independent described London's support for Saudi Arabia to occupy the UNHRC seat as “appalling'.<br />
'Saudi Arabia in particular consistently disregard not only the rights of their own citizens, but have also been involved in serious violations of International Humanitarian Law in Yemen,' Farron said.</p>
<p>Earlier in October, the Saudi-led coalition bombed a funeral in Yemen killing 140 people and leaving injured 600 more.</p>
<p>Riyadh admitted the responsibility for the bloody attack on civilians, but blamed it on the “wrong information”.</p>
<p>According to the United Nations, the brutal Saudi-led war in Yemen has killed more than 10,000 and displaced more than three million people. The country is already on the brink of famine, and homes, markets, hospitals, schools, civilian businesses, and mosques across the war-torn nation, after all, are still being showered with the Saudi rockets and even internationally banned cluster bombs.</p>
<p>And the UN General Assembly member states that opted to reelect Riyadh presumably to take care of regional abuses of human rights and war crimes, hope for the gruesome Saudi regime to address the humanitarian issues in the region.</p>
<p>“As the Human Rights Council commemorates its tenth anniversary, it should be recommitting to accountability, not allowing countries that commit gross and systematic abuses to remain members,” says Philippe Bolopion, Deputy Director for global advocacy at Human Rights Watch.</p>
<p>“The General Assembly’s failure to suspend Saudi Arabia could seriously harm the rights council’s credibility,” Bolopoin says.</p>
<p>Saudi Arabia joined the Human Rights Council in January 2014. However, Riyadh never abandoned its crackdown on all forms of dissent at home; executions are being carried out unabated, women in the country are still denied basic rights, and the Saudi Shia minority community remains to be oppressed by the regime.</p>
<p>Now it seems the Saudi regime is trying to spread its suppressive practices in the region by relying Western weapons its petrodollars could buy.</p>
</div>
<span class="field-label">
Reference:
</span>
<div class="field-reference inline">
<a href="http://www.irna.ir/en/News/82288796/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Irna</a> </div>
<span class="field-label">
Post date:
</span>
<div class="field-post-date inline">
Tuesday, 01 November 2016 </div>
<ul class="field-tags">
<li>
<a href="/tags/war-crimes">War crimes</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/region">Region</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/human-rights">Human Rights</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/t-saudi">t Saudi</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/base">Base</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="/tags/bombing">Bombing</a> </li>
</ul>
Tue, 01 Nov 2016 06:57:16 +0000Reshad37898 at http://en.iwpeace.com